Scottish local government will soon have a new leader. Humza Yousaf was elected to succeed Nicola Sturgeon by members of the Scottish Independence Party (SNP) on Monday 27 March, resuming the fight for self-determination.
This 37-year-old close friend of Nicola Sturgeon inherits the delicate mission of reviving an independence movement that has met London’s stubborn refusal to authorize a new referendum. By then Health Minister Humza Yousaf will become the first Muslim to lead a major political party in the UK. He is due to be elected Prime Minister by the local parliament in Edinburgh on Tuesday.
“We will be the generation that will achieve Scottish independence,” Humza Yousaf launched in a speech delivered shortly after announcing his victory, stressing that “the people” of Scotland “need independence now more than ever”. .
Later in the day, the British government rejected Humza Yousaf’s call for independence. Scots, and Britain as a whole, want health care policymakers “focused on the issues that matter most to them: bringing inflation down, tackling the cost of living crisis and reducing waiting lists,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, adding the latter “is looking forward to the Cooperation” with Mr. Yousaf.
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After an internal vote sparked by Ms Sturgeon’s surprise resignation last month after eight years in office, he is winning against Treasury Secretary Kate Forbes, with controversial Conservative positions, and Ash Regan, a former member of local government. No candidate who collected more than 50% of the votes in this ballot, in which voters rank candidates by preference, won the second count and received 52.1% of the votes. More than 50,000 SNP members took part in the vote, representing an electorate of just over 72,000 members.
The local government of Scotland, a territory of 5.5 million people, is responsible for many issues including education, health and justice. More broadly, this election has potentially grave implications for the future of the UK, whose divisions between its four constituent nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) have been exacerbated by Brexit – 62% of Scots opposed the Brits-to-Brits divorce pronounced United Kingdom and the European Union.
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progressive positions
But support for independence, which is at the heart of the SNP program, has stagnated. According to a March 13 YouGov poll, 46% of respondents support independence (up from 50% in February). Including the undecided, the proportion drops to 39%. In the 2014 referendum, 45% of Scots voted for independence.
According to the Ipsos Institute, Kate Forbes was Scots’ favorite candidate with 27% positive opinions, versus 22% for Humza Yousaf and 14% for Ash Regan. But within the SNP, Mr. Yousaf came out on top (38%). Kate Forbes is not far behind (37%). Kate Forbes had a rocky start to the campaign due to her conservative views. She is against gay marriage and abortion.
Humza Yousaf has progressive positions on social issues and is left-leaning in business, for example by wanting to raise taxes on the richest. However, he has been criticized for his performances in various positions in the Scottish Government.
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Nicola Sturgeon, 52, announced her resignation on February 15, to everyone’s surprise, saying that after eight years in power she no longer had the energy she needed. She also got into trouble after London blocked a controversial law making it easier to change gender. This law should allow the recognition of sex reassignment without medical advice and from the age of 16.
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But Nicola Sturgeon said she had “full confidence” that her successor would succeed in leading Scotland to independence.